Swansea Hard of Hearing Group s1

SWANSEA HARD OF HEARING GROUP

Newsletter

March 2016

Hello again. The next meeting will be on

Date: Friday 4th March Time: 3.30p.m. to 5.30 p.m.

Venue: Discovery Room in the Central Library in the Civic Centre.

For those who haven’t been there before, the room is at the far end of the first floor – there is access by both lift and stairs. Parking is free and the Metro bendy bus stops outside.

Last meeting

We were pleased to welcome both Richard Williams, Director of Action on Hearing Loss Cymru and Mike Hedges, Assembly Member for Swansea East. Mike is especially supportive as his sister is profoundly deaf. He related that when she was 8 years old she told him that he spoke too fast to lipread. She is now 50 and still says the same!

Although he is the Assembly Member for Swansea East, he said that he would pass on any concerns that we might have, even if we lived outside that area. He offered to provide a letter of support for any grant application we may make.

Richard gave a slide presentation about Action on Hearing Loss (available if anyone would like it) and emphasised their vision that people with a hearing loss should be treated like everybody else and live the life they choose.

That this was some way from happening was evident in questions raised, especially relating to the problems of making GP appointments. The signage

PTO and loop systems in surgeries are often poor. That at the new outpatients in Morriston Hospital is very good – that at Singleton somewhat less so.

Richard mentioned that the charity was offering 3 months free membership at the moment. This is dependent on taking their hearing check - ring 0808 808 0123 or it can be taken online. Membership is well worth while – just £17.50 a year or £12.50 if you are retired, unwaged or a student. The quarterly magazine is worth that on its own.

Next meeting

Martin Scott who runs a private hearing aid firm is coming to tell us something about the latest advances in hearing aid technology. Whilst we are very lucky in having a top class NHS audiology department locally, it may be that ‘going private’ may give extra benefits for those that can afford them. Martin is re- puted to be a good speaker, so it should be an interesting afternoon.

Lip reading

We said last month that we were optimistic about being able to restart proper lip reading classes and this is still the case. Provided we are successful, the tutor will be Grace Garnett who is currently teaching sessions in Neath and Llanelli.

Tip of the month

If you haven’t made a will or need to revise the one you wrote years ago, March is ‘Free Will’ month, sponsored by Action on Hearing Loss. The offer applies to those over 55 with a limited number of places locally. If you are interested send your name and address to:

Freepost Plus RTSZ-HYHY-ZYLT, Action on Hearing Loss, 19-23 Featherstone Street, London EC1Y 8SL.

If you don’t think you need to have a will, ask Doug for an information sheet – you may be quite surprised.

Finally

Look forward to seeing as many of you as can make it next Friday.

Doug 07866 191179 (text or phone) [email protected] .uk

Jean (01792) 290769 [email protected]

Alison 07974 120996 (text or phone) [email protected]